Importance of 7Ps in Employee Life Cycle Management

Making of a better employee…and the organization

Are you fascinated by the idea of joining a company that takes care of your overall personality and growth needs apart from providing you just a job?  A company that not only happens to be a support in your career but also a fuel to make you fly to your desired career and destinations. Then, you have actually spotted the right place because this paper is about developing such a firm. With the help of a model that is not only proposed keeping in mind the nuances of an employee’s life cycle but also his/ her career aspirations. This model is based on the 7Ps- Passion,Perception, Performance, Potential, Personality, Partners and Process. The model builds on the backbone of the HIAR model and is an extension of the model with the most important Ps in an employee’s lifecycle.

      Fig. 7 Ps and their expansions

Fig. The HIAR and 7 Ps amalgamation model

The seven Ps are very relevant to an employee in his lifetime at an organization. But this model stresses on the need of certain specific Ps at various stages of HIAR. The first stage that is the recruitment or the Hiring stage comprises asking suitable interview questions and understanding the prospects’ professional goals and aspirations. The hiring of an individual should be based on his/ her talent as well, because the talent can be recognized and developed into a skill, whereas a skillful person might not have the talent and would not be having so even if tried.  Passion plays an important part of the hiring stage as it determines the true calling of an individual thus ensuring a well connected and interested employee. Similar to this the Potential of a prospective employee is a big factor while deciding his place, because this is what decides his/ her future growth in that role. Personality is another factor that determines an employee’s suitability for a specific profile. Whereas, Performance gives a picture of an individual in terms of how he has been performing in his/ her professional career, which is again an important component in deriving the best for your organization.

Talking about the second stage that is the Inspire stage, a fact that is very true is that motivation and enthusiasm which are a result of inspiration are the components that keep an employee going and also maintain their performance levels. The more you inspire and motivate your employee the more likely is the possibility for him/ her to perform well. So, get ready to be Passionate and make your employee passionate about working with you. The Perception of an employee towards organization and the organization’s perception towards an employee both are important, because that depicts compatibility of an employee with the organization and vice versa.  Making the new joinee understand his position, roles and responsibilities is also very important. Creating a well defined KRA for the employee and providing him/ her clear indication on his job is very crucial for any employer. The Processes in an organization determines the lubrication and the speed of functioning of an organization. So, the point here is to make the processes like Problem Resolution, time compliance, training and development etc. and it has to be developed into fool proof processes. Potential is a crucial P that determines a person’s ability to perform, also to sustain in a profile. The Performance of an employee can be consistently enhanced by giving him/her regular feedback and by developing the sense of ownership in that person.

Now comes the third and a very crucial stage, the Admire stage, a stage that actually ensures that an employee stays engaged and committed towards work. This stage calls for all the 7 Ps and hence becomes a robust platform to see the Passion, Performance and Potential of an employee. When I talk about Partner as one of the crucial Ps then I refer to the internal as well as external partners that are your colleagues as well as your clients. They become important and a source of business in due course of time, and one should never take them for granted, as in this globalised world, there are far much more options than we could possibly think of. So, start admiring your employees & clients well on time. This will ensure a continued and enriched relationship between your organization and them. After all this has the power to positively affect the balance sheet of any organization.

The final stage of the employee lifecycle is the Retire stage…this stage deserves a special place because it’s needed to smoothly complete the full employee life cycle. The relationship of an employee with an organization ripens over time and it requires a respectful treatment in lieu of the commitment that the employee has give to the organization. This stage involves the Process and Perception as the two Ps since the smooth transition of an employee to a retired life is enabled through robust process and policies while on the other hand the prospects of an employee in other role or organization depends big time on the perception of an employee, in the eyes of his colleagues and his own self. Also not to ignore this fact that if an employee leave any organization on good note, he/she will always speak good things about the previous organization among his friends/colleagues in the new organization. While on the other hand if he/she leaves with frustration then it is surely going to affect the credibility of the organization in the outside world. So be cautious about the message that will go from a resigned employee among the masses. Moreover all of us are concerned about the credibility of our organization and want people to admire our company’s brand. This would increases the prospects to attract the best talent and customers.

With this, I am closing this paper of mine and definitely hope that this model stays for a good read and utilization to all my readers.

I wish to present more such insights in my following blogs…signing off for now.

Smiles

Ritu

Deputy Manager (Corp HR)

HCL Technologies

Awakening the Next Generation HR

I have been giving a thought on “the quotient” that an HR Professional must have in order to play a pivotal role in business of a company. Gone are those days when your Passion for your people used to be sufficient to create an impact in the organization. Today, if you want to be a real differentiator then you need to be equally passionate about the business of your company.

Moreover, I personally believe that it’s very important to get business into HR and HR into business. This thought has put me on a crossroad where I want to discuss and explore more on the role of the next generation HR. A role that will transform the thinking and actions of an HR , a role that will provide a deeper and more mature understanding of HR as a field and HR as a key element of an organization where the business is at the focal point and employees are considered as the prime assets.

I perceive “Next generation HR” to have a deeper understanding of both business and people. They should be well equipped with business as well as people skills and should be able to deploy the knowledge that they have gained in a commercial setup. This whole approach of having next generation HRs also calls for “Next generation managers”. These line managers will be skilled with the necessary HR skills apart from general management skills and then they will be able to run more engaged and productive teams. Here I would like to quote an example of a team where acknowledgement is a problem within team, so can HR create a difference in this case? Oh if that’s not rhetorical for you, then let me tell you if the manager of that team simply practice of acknowledging the efforts of the team members regularly and be empathetic towards his team members, the scenario will change. HR department creating R&R programs/ complex interventions might not create much difference in a situation like this, while a simple pat on the back by the manager might do the trick.  The whole question is to bring in a culture of positivity and healthy interpersonal relationships among team members and managers. Trust me “Connectedness” is important!

The “Next generation HR” needs to enable the managers with all necessary people skills because these skill sets will now be the need of the hour to deal with a workforce that majorly comprises of GENY. A workforce that will then have a rebounding capability when it comes to facing the tough times and market dynamics brazenly. This next generation HR will have to emphasize on building teams in an organization where they have a sound manager who is business focused and takes his team along to create value and advantage.

It is time when we expound on the need for the HR fraternity to shift its focus and move from the traditional HR role to a more advanced role. I feel the next Gen HR will have to play both the roles that is of an Employee Buddy and Business Champ equally.

Few questions that the current HR practitioners need to ask themselves are:

1.      What contributes to a sustainable performance in the organization?

2.      Are the HR interventions& policies aligned with the company’s vision and mission?

3.      Are the HR interventions contributing to the ROI of the company?

4.      And last but not the least is the HR Dept able to maintain the equilibrium between employees & management?

You will have to ponder on such questions that will actually make you think once again whether you are living the role that you have been given as an HR. I am going to throw some light on the very basic skills that our next generation HRs should have and should actually practice in order to be more effective in their roles:

1.    Be careful of the “waiting game”:  The strategies of delay do not work when it is about engagement, motivation, morale and Passion of an employee. The sooner it is dealt the better it is for both the employees and the management. I would like to give a real time example of a friend who used to be a very very passionate employee and has now turned to a disengaged, “just working for the heck of it” type of a guy. This is not because he lacked interest but the management slept over the very problem of him wanting a challenging, a transforming and a creative profile. Just because of the fact that the employee was very committed and passionate about working the management overburdened that person with loads of work without looking for a root cause of the concern he had. This not only took away from him the interest and passion that he had but also made him feel sick in his current profile. Such an employee even if staying with the organization does not engage well and will create the least of prospects. This process can also have a very bad impact on the professional since he/ she has lost that vigor which has been sapped for nothing but mere transactions. The example given above is fallout of the situation wherein the management took the employee for granted and could not respond to his career aspiration and true calling. This “waiting game” saps employee’s energy. So be aware!

2.  Responsiveness: How responsive an HR is also plays a very crucial role Employee Lifecycle. If the HR sit on the employee query no matter how trivial it might be then the consequences can be heavy. It can be very frustrating & demotivating for the employee who expects the HR to help them.eg. HRs not responding to general queries of the employees even after several reminders. So, how responsive are you as an HR? How sensitive are you? These are some of the questions you need to ask. Believe me friends the whole game starts with caring for your employees, being responsive and responsible are the two keys to be that next generation HR to whom the employees look forward to.

3.   Stop Policing  & Be Approachable:  Being an HR requires to be humane and approachable , when I say approachable, I do not mean that one should entertain everything that the employees asks for, but to be fair and address the concerns which can be as soon as possible. The GEN- Y workforce needs to gel and share a lot with their next generation HRs and hence you need to break the shackles of being in your own castle. The role of an HR can be crucial for the business when you start giving an experience to the employee which he / she will get nowhere else, this can result in increased motivation, engagement, commitment in an employee for its company. Hence affecting the employee productivity positively.  

4.   The unconventional yet crucial trait- Being “Compassionate”- I have been a firm believer of Passion always but if you are a next generation HR Leader, then you got to be compassionate too. The element of compassion is an inherent trait required in an HR, without which the flavor of HR partner roles goes off.  The Human Touch is very necessary so another question that arises it “How humane are HR professionals today?”

I know that at this point your mind is stormed with various thoughts and you are actually visualizing all the situations that you have been, tackling problems as an HR, you might as well feel “What bullshit it is, I know my job and nobody dare tell me how to do it”. But you need to question yourself every time, are you practicing the right approach, and are you actually moving towards being that “Next generation HR”? Are you giving the employee an experience that amplify its happiness and development quotient and at the same time leading your company business grow multifold?

It all comes to valuing your ROLE … it’s a role that requires tremendous seriousness and sensitivity. Because there are thousands of eyes who are watching you every time every moment… because YOU are the next generation HR!

Smiles

Ritu

Employee Passion Indicative Count:Identifying and Building PASSION AT HCL!

In the tough times of recession in the year 2009, organizations across the globe were striving to find a sustainable and competitive asset that can be relied on and leveraged continuously. HCL perceived this threat as an opportunity. This led to the question that what could be done for the employees in this scenario to know the level of engagement and how best can they be adhered to the organization. Moreover since every individual is unique, what drives him/her is also different. HCL realized how critical it was to identify what drives each HCLite in order to uphold the individual’s identity and engagement level.

Realizing that EMPLOYEES are its assets, HCL asked itself a few important questions like “How much has it invested in its employees? It also tried to understand “Does the down fall in the passion levels of an employee actually affect the employee engagement, retention and performance? In effect to this, starting from 2009, HCL has been constantly exploring the relationship between Passion and Engagement, Passion and Retention, Passion and Performance with an aim to realize their aspirations, creating a workforce whose desires match with that of the organizations.

Moving beyond Employee Engagement: The HCL Way

In order to venture into a domain that masters engagement HCL thought of going beyond it and by stepping into a sphere that is ours, yours and everybody’s…Yes it’s the domain that is ever growing and palpable. PASSION. A concept that is larger than life, an attribute that differentiates the extraordinary out of the ordinary and a topic that has been talked off by many great personalities.

But the Question is “Why Passion?”

Passion is needed to be identified and leveraged as research has clearly shown that a passionate person: 1. lives longer, 2. is healthier, 3. is happier, 4. is more productive at work and 5, is more reproductive (i.e. they have a better ability to reproduce passion in others). This will hold true even in scenarios where things are not going the expected way. The fact that you know what drives you will help tackle difficult situations accordingly, and in turn perform better.

Employee Passion AT HCL:

It’s the collective energy of both the organization’s and the individual’s passion working together to bring out the best within the employee and the organization.

How does HCL identify the Passion of its Employees?

HCL identifies the Passion of its employees through Employee Passion Indicative Count^TM (EPIC), a self-assessment tool that identifies the Top 5 Passion Indicators i.e. all those factors that drives an individual to excel. It also assesses the intensity of Passion on 15 Passion Indicators and gives an understanding of how an individual can leverage them at the workplace through the Individual EPIC Reports. This is the third year of EPIC launch and now it has been developed as an yearlong intervention that strives to achieve high Employee Engagement, Employee Productivity, Employee Development and Employee Retention. It aims to build an organization that has passionate employee, passionate teams and passionate customers, an organization that rears Passion as strategic differentiator to increase profits, margins, revenues and productivity of the company.

How does HCL build passion?

By making EPIC An yearlong intervention…

EPIC as an yearlong intervention begins with an online assessment that helps the individual to identify his/her top five passion indicators. This is followed by facilitating employees with their EPIC Individual Reports (51,656 Individual Reports generated during EPIC 2011) that showcase their Top Five Passion Indicators, Dominant Passion Themes, and Level of Passion, Phase they are entering in terms of growth, sleeping and thinking along with an extensive Action plan to leverage the same both within and outside the organization. 

This is followed by extensive EPIC Team Reports that are generated for managers which help them understand the DNA of their teams. Workshops on the theme “Creating Passionate Teams” are held for managers and HR team in which they are given the ‘know –how’ on building passion and productivity through various team interventions and action planning skills. The managers then taken appropriate action on the basis of the concerns and other features like top passion drivers of the team that emerges out as a result of their reports. Then they conduct interventions with individuals and teams in order to ensure that their passion and development is enhanced day by day.

EPIC focuses on Action Orientation through a platform called Post EPIC Effectiveness Tracker (PEET) that allows the managers to register the development interventions they conduct for their teams. It is a tool that measures and tracks the actions taken up by the managers towards team development. 

*Apart from all this, the year round engagement is kept alive throughout the year via various internal platforms such as Passion Club, Passion Wall, HCL MEME ( HCL’s Internal Social Networking platform) group Passionate HCLites : the Differentiators etc. Once we create communities of passion, we will be able to run self-run, self-governed and self-structured organization. 

   A Quick look at some interesting numbers: 

• Number of Passion Stories at Passion Club: 323
• Members in” Passionate HCLite: The Differentiator” Group at HCL: 1123
• Number of EPIC Moments on Passion Wall: 3126

Analyzing the Results: The HCL DNA

In the year 2011 51,656 employees participated in EPIC. The participation data has increased tremendously year on year; the last three year’s status since the time of its inception is mentioned below:

 

Year	Number of HCLites who participated in EPIC Assessment
2009	25100
2010	40574
2011	51656

 An exhaustive and Meta-granular Analysis of the EPIC 2011 participation data of the organization has brought out the following TOP FIVE PASSION Indicators of HCL: 

1	Customer Centricity
2	Altruism
3	Autonomy
4	Diversity
5	Training & Learning

**True to its Employees First Customers Second Philosophy, has provided a platform to the HCLites where they can identify, build and know how to leverage their true Passion. It’s a bearing and quite a correlation that employees feel really passionate about their customers with Customer Centricity being their Top passion indicator. They are getting an environment where they can create value for the customers. Analysis reveals that HCLites believe in achieving customer delight. They would not hesitate in walking an extra mile to maintain good customer relationships.

                                    The second top passion indicator indicates that HCLites are helpful and do well for the well being of other employees without thinking about any personal benefit.  They like to be there for others without really expecting anything in return.  There has been a significant increase in the number of CSR initiatives like Power of One, DAAN that inspires HCLite to leverage their social responsible behaviors and interests.

                                     The third top passion indicator indicates that employees like to work without much interference and prefer to operate and take decisions on their own. They appreciate an environment where management trusts them and provides considerable freedom. They completely own the task assigned to them and ensure that it is executed from start to finish.

                                                                The fourth top passion indicator indicates that the employees love meeting new people and networking all across. They respect individual similarities and differences. Variety excites them and they are open to thoughts that force them to think in a different direction.

                                                                                         The fifth top passion indicator indicates that the employees continuously look forward to upgrade their competencies (knowledge, skills and behavior) that help them grow as an individual & as better professionals.

HCL is a “SOCIALLY” Motivated organization. Employees look at their Peers, friends and superiors for encouragement and motivation. Their connect with others is of high importance.

Gender wise analysis based on EPIC 2011 assessment data:

S.No	MALE	FEMALE
1	Customer Centricity	Customer Centricity
2	Autonomy	Altruism
3	Altruism	Diversity
4	Diversity	Task variety
5	Task variety	Autonomy

The top five passion indicators are same; only the priority changes for both male and female employees, interestingly the dominant theme of MALE employees is Social and FEMALE is Self i.e. this indicates that the female employees look within for motivation. They find reason and strength to achieve a goal without any external influence on them.

Talking about influence and impact….

This concept has been institutionalized at an organizational level at HCL through a rigorous R & D in the concerned area. EPIC unlike the employee engagement survey in which the HR pushes the employees to participate encourages voluntary participation. It was first launched in the year 2009 at HCL in which 25,100 employees participated. This participation figure jumped to as high as 40,574 in the year 2010, which then went on to a startling 51,656 in 2011. This it says a lot about the acceptance and enthusiasm among employees for this initiative.  Every HCL employee was eligible to participate irrespective of the band, location, gender, line of business and time spent in the organization.

A very striking correlation between Passion and Performance at HCL has revealed that 95% of the SUPER PERFORMERS at HCL are lying at the Engagement and Passion Level.

Unlike other organizations where such initiatives are driven by HR, HCL involved the employees in the launch as well as drive of EPIC 2011. An interesting campaign on “Passion Champs” was announced wherein employees from Delivery (Different LOBs at HCL) were invited to champion EPIC 2011. These Passion Champs were recognized via organization wide communication and rewarded by the EPIC Team. To name some are Senthil Kumaran and Mathew Paul Vizhalil who drove EPIC 2011 very enthusiastically and could bring highest participation in Chennai in their facilities, Kapil T who achieved maximum participation in his facility in NOIDA. Madhi Anand Kumar, Prankur Pruthi and Jagadeesh MM consistently involved masses, shared valuable feedbacks, passionately drove EPIC on MEME apart from driving it successfully in their facilities

 HCLites are fond of EPIC…Check this out… 

 Excerpts from HCL’s internal social networking platform, HCL MEME:

Our Message

The greatest advantage an organization can possess is “Passion”, Passion to outlive competition and emerge as an unmatchable entity. Passion is the underlying emotion that drives its employees towards excellence. It determines the motive for each action and decision that an organization takes. Passion is a competitive advantage that cannot be bought but needs to be leveraged by us. It can only be nurtured and fueled by the organization and its employees.

Linking Purpose with Passion gives full shape and life to an organization that is self sustaining and holds an environment where the extraordinary emerges from the ordinary. We are Passionate and have taken the challenge to create a difference, ARE YOU?  
 

Smiles

Ritu & Prerna

References:

·         Employee Passion Indicative Count Case Study published in Business World in 2010

·         Employees First, Customers Second by Vineet Nayar, Harvard Business Press, 2010.

·         Employee Passion:  The New Rules of Engagement by Ken Blanchard Companies

·         HCL Technologies puts Employees First, Customers Second by Jeffrey S. Hammond for Application Development & Delivery Professionals published in Forrester Research Inc.

·         Company website: www.hcltech.com

My Passion Story at HCL!

How many of us ever wonder what “PASSION” is to us?  Yes, for few it may be cricket, for few it may be music and for some it may be painting but I would describe it an inner drive that will cause you to break a record, when finishing the race will do, that will make you stay up all night long, when you want to sleep, that will cause you to love, when you would rather hate....and that will defy the odds when they shadow you…..

Not a single day has passed without a bang of energy since 2009, the time when I started my stint with HCL Technologies Ltd. (my second organization). I believe that HCL has been the best thing that has happened to me in my life. Coming from a manufacturing sector, I was aware that life would take a turn; I am going to step into a big IT firm like HCL. And so did happen, I joined a team which was being incubated at that time “Strategic Initiatives”. The team started to set a foot in the organization with big initiatives and a bigger vision. Together we experimented, explored, learnt and developed these initiatives, which is but an experience of its own kind.

“The Passion within me sparked again when I got involved in an initiative that was “THE THING” to be. Actually the journey started with a precarious note and we decided to build something for the individual at HCL. Recession was hitting bad that time in 2009 and we as vibrant team wanted to convert the threats into opportunities.  With a number of brain storming rounds and sleepless weekends, we came about an initiave that strives to engage the whole person by identifying his/ her Passion Indicators…a topic close to my heart.”

In this process, we were revising the concepts of organization behavior, some team members who did not have an HR background used to get bugged…and they used to go crazy with the psychology and OB concepts… J and for me it was the revision of what I had studied for 7 years. But, the whole environment incited us to come up with Employee Passion Indicative Count^TM, abbreviated as EPIC. EPIC started as an assessment tool with very basic reports and portal in 2009 (first year of its launch). It now stands as a yearlong intervention that strives to address four business challenges of Employee Engagement, Employee Productivity, Employee Development and Employee Retention. The vision is to “Create a Passionate HCL” by Creating Passionate Individuals and Passionate Teams.

EPIC as HCL’s Differentiator:  EPIC starts with an assessment, which aims to identify the Passion Indicators i.e. all those factors that drive an employee to excel at work. It goes beyond employee engagement. Passion that gives a kick to employees to step out of their comfort zones and perform innovatively. Moreover in order to engage your people you need to know your people. So we help the management know them better in order to engage them better.

We were happy to see a participation of 25,100 in EPIC 2009 launch i.e. the first year of launch. The concept picked up so fast with the masses and there from it has been taken off well with a whopping participation of 40,574 in EPIC 2010 and 51,656 in EPIC 2011. But the destination is not even close to what I want to achieve in life. Sustaining through adverse situations at work, amidst of lot of restructuring and dynamism in the organization; it was never a cake walk to achieve a target with such a small team (a team of three). We could connect with the masses (HCL, a company of approx 90,000 employees) through a neck breaking speed and innovative solutions and created impact.

The last 3.3 years have passed like a wind. It has been full of unique experiences for me – different flavors, different people, different learning. Besides helping me grow professionally, I think the exposure and learning while working here has contributed in my personal growth immensely. From day one till date I have been completely enjoying my work each and every moment. It was indeed a tremendous learning working here. The diverse and creative work assignments helped me channelize my potential to the fullest and have given me enough confidence to explore some new territories. In the process I also got an opportunity to groom few of my team members and I am confident enough that they would take EPIC to new heights“.

I have worked with many people in this firm and have undergone a tremendous phase of learning. Now that I grow up on career ladder I wish to be a Leader in the field of HR and inspire many others like me to rise up and be revolutionary leaders.

Like many, I have been through topsy turvy times as well. When the only inspiration was my aspiration to be an HR professional who stands out in the crowd through her impact and influence. A vision to be a  HR Head in the long run pull me through. I have been through tough times in my race to be where I am, but it only gives me more strength to be a determined person and focus on my goals.  As it’s said… Diamonds are made under pressure.

Whenever the pressure used to get too much I always used to keep this in mind that apart from being an employee I am also a manager, so it was very important for me to motivate myself and my team members.  I don’t know how many of you will agree with me but Managers do play a very vital role in anyone’s career, I had to make sure that I consistently keep the flame of passion of my team members burning. I have always made sure that even in the times of adversity my team’s Passion, motivation and performance does not go down.

For me right decisions at the right time and acting upon the same are very important and that’s the way I have always worked. Personally I have always admired leaders who took along their team members and maintain their integrity.

I feel that values are foremost to me and they give me a differentiated power and confidence to shine. Passion is one thing that I am not only driving but living every moment. Passionate employees will pave their own way but...but what about others?  A real leader is one who can make an " Iron SHINE like Diamond”, because a leader grows only when his team members grow, when he grows alone then he is not a true leader, he is just another Individual contributor. So, are you identifying a successor at every level?

Thanks!

Ritu Singh- On the journey of being the MOST PASSIONATE HR Practitioner!